Occurrence of the Old World bug Megacopta cribraria (Fabricius) (Heteroptera: Plataspidae) in Georgia: a serious home invader and potential legume pest

Specimens of Megacopta cribraria (Fabricius) were collected in northern Georgia in late October 2009, where they were invading homes in large numbers. This is the first known occurrence of this species and the family Plataspidae in the New World. Megacopta cribraria was previously known from Asia and Australia. A key is provided to separate Plataspidae from other families of Pentatomoidea in America North of Mexico. A diagnosis and figures are provided to facilitate recognition of M. cribraria. Reported host plants and other aspects of the biology of this species are reviewed. Megacopta cribraria is considered a pest of numerous legumes in Asia, has the potential to provide biological control of kudzu, Pueraria montana var. lobata (Willd.) Ohwi, (Fabaceae) and likely will continue to be a household pest in the vicinity of kudzu fields as well as become a pest of North American legume crops

Plastron properties of a superhydrophobic surface

Most insects and spiders drown when submerged during flooding or tidal inundation, but some are able to survive and others can remain submerged indefinitely without harm. Many achieve this by natural adaptations to their surface morphology to trap films of air, creating plastrons which fix the water-vapor interface and provide an incompressible oxygen-carbon dioxide exchange surface. Here the authors demonstrate how the surface of an extremely water-repellent foam mimics this mechanism of underwater respiration and allows direct extraction of oxygen from aerated water. The biomimetic principle demonstrated can be applied to a wide variety of man-made superhydrophobic materials

Organic farming enhances parasitoid diversity at the local and landscape scales

1. The magnitude of the benefits derived from organic farming within contrasting managed landscapes remains unclear and, in particular, the potential scale-dependent response of insect parasitoids is relatively unexplored. Identifying the scale at which parasitoids are affected by organic farming will be an important step to enhance their conservation. 2. We sampled tachinid parasitoids at the centre and margin of arable and grassland fields on paired organic and conventional farms located in landscapes with different proportions of organic land. A total of 192 fields were sampled in two biogeographical regions of the UK. 3. We found that the positive effect of organic farming on tachinid parasitoid diversity can be observed at multiple spatial scales. At the local scale, we found higher abundance and species richness of tachinid parasitoids on organic than on conventional farms and on field margins than on field centres. At the landscape scale, the diversity of tachinids was higher in landscapes with higher proportions of organic land. At both scales, the positive effect of organic farming was clear for arable fields, while it was almost neutral for grasslands. 4. Synthesis and applications. Any attempt to enhance parasitoid diversity in agricultural landscapes needs to consider the local management in relation to the habitat type, location within the field and agricultural management in the surrounding landscape. To restore parasitoid diversity, the promotion of organic agriculture should aim to increase both the total extent of organic farming and the connectivity of individual farms. As the benefits of organic farming to biodiversity clearly spread beyond individual farm boundaries, any assessment of organic farming should consider these positive externalities

New State Records For Some Predatory And Parasitic True Bugs (Heteroptera: Cimicomorpha) of the United States

Forty new state records, distributed among Anthocoridae, Cimicidae, Lasiochilidae, Lyctocoridae, Nabidae, and Reduviidae, are reported for 25 species of Cimicomorpha found in the United States

Trophic Transfer of Arsenic from an Aquatic Insect to Terrestrial Insect Predators.

The movement of energy and nutrients from aquatic to terrestrial ecosystems can be substantial, and emergent aquatic insects can serve as biovectors not only for nutrients, but also for contaminants present in the aquatic environment. The terrestrial predators Tenodera aridifolia sinensis (Mantodea: Mantidae) and Tidarren haemorrhoidale (Araneae: Theridiidae) and the aquatic predator Buenoa scimitra (Hemiptera: Notonectidae) were chosen to evaluate the efficacy of arsenic transfer between aquatic and terrestrial environments. Culex tarsalis larvae were reared in either control water or water containing 1000 µg l(-1) arsenic. Adults that emerged from the control and arsenic treatments were fed to the terrestrial predators, and fourth instar larvae were fed to the aquatic predator reared in control or arsenic contaminated water. Tenodera a. sinensis fed arsenic-treated Cx. tarsalis accumulated 658±130 ng g(-1) of arsenic. There was no significant difference between control and arsenic-fed T. haemorrhoidale (range 142-290 ng g(-1)). Buenoa scimitra accumulated 5120±406 ng g(-1) of arsenic when exposed to arsenic-fed Cx. tarsalis and reared in water containing 1000 µg l(-1) arsenic. There was no significant difference between controls or arsenic-fed B. scimitra that were not exposed to water-borne arsenic, indicating that for this species environmental exposure was more important in accumulation than strictly dietary arsenic. These results indicate that transfer to terrestrial predators may play an important role in arsenic cycling, which would be particularly true during periods of mass emergence of potential insect biovectors. Trophic transfer within the aquatic environment may still occur with secondary predation, or in predators with different feeding strategies

Effects of High-Level Acylsugar-Producing Tomato Lines on the Development of Tomato Psyllids (Hemiptera: Triozidae).

Acylsugars have been shown to provide activity against numerous insect pests of tomatoes. Comparison of acylsugar levels in four tomato plant lines, FA7/AS, FA2/AS, CU071026, and 'Yellow Pear', found that the acylsugar contents in the elevated acylsugar lines were significantly higher than the commercial Yellow Pear (control) tomato plant line. Adult choice tests indicated that the tomato psyllid, Bactericera cockerelli, preferred to settle on the Yellow Pear and FA2/AS lines over the line with the highest content of acylsugars, FA7/AS, and the parental line, CU071026. The no-choice test demonstrated that adults laid fewer eggs on the high acylsugar tomato lines than on the control tomato line, Yellow Pear. For all high acylsugar lines, the relative growth index of the psyllid was significantly lower compared with the commercial line, indicating a reduced potential for population growth. Although some tomato psyllids completed their life cycle on the high acylsugar tomato plant lines, the percent survival of psyllids to the adult stage when developing on the high acylsugar lines was significantly less (range = 43.7-57.1%) than on the commercial tomato line (83.8%). All mortality occurred during the early stages of development (egg stage to third instar), which has implications for acquisition and transmission of Candidatus Liberibacter solanacearum, the causal agent of tomato vein greening disease. Therefore, with reduced attractiveness for tomato psyllids and significantly reduced survival, the high-acylsugar tomato plant lines have the potential to be part of an integrated pest management program for this pest

Predators do not spill over from forest fragments to maize fields in a landscape mosaic in central Argentina

South America is undergoing a rapid and large scale conversion of natural habitats to cultivated land. Ecosystem services (ESs) still remain important but their level and sustainability are not known. We quantified predation intensity in an Argentinian agricultural landscape containing remnants of the original chaco serrano forest by using artificial sentinel prey. We sought to identify the main predators, and the effect of landscape configuration and maize phenology on predation pressure by invertebrate and vertebrate predators in this landscape. The most common predators were chewing insects (50.4% predation events), birds (22.7%), and ants (17.5%). Overall predation rates in forest fragments (41.6% d-1) were significantly higher than in the surrounding maize fields (21.5% d-1). Invertebrate predation was higher inside and at the edge of forest fragments than within fields, and did not change with increasing distance from a fragment edge, indicating a lack of spillover from the native habitat remnants to the cultivated matrix at the local scale. Distance from a continuous forest had a positive impact on predation by invertebrates and a negative impact on vertebrate predation.Fil: Ferrante, Marco. Aarhus University. Flakkebjerg Research Centre. Department of Agroecology; DinamarcaFil: González, Ezequiel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas Físicas y Naturales. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal; ArgentinaFil: Gabor L., Lovei. Aarhus University. Flakkebjerg Research Centre. Department of Agroecology; Dinamarc

Distribution of glycan motifs at the surface of midgut cells in the cotton leafworm (Spodoptera littoralis) demonstrated by lectin binding

Glycans are involved in many biological phenomena, including signal transduction, cell adhesion, immune response or differentiation. Although a few papers have reported on the role of glycans in the development and proper functioning of the insect midgut, no data are available regarding the localization of the glycan structures on the surface of the cells in the gut of insects. In this paper, we analyzed the spatial distribution of glycans present on the surface of the midgut cells in larvae of the cotton leafworm Spodoptera littoralis, an important agricultural pest insect worldwide. For this purpose, we established primary midgut cell cultures, probed these individual cells that are freely suspended in liquid medium with a selection of seven fluorescently labeled lectins covering a range of different carbohydrate binding specificities [mannose oligomers (GNA and HHA), GalNAc/Gal (RSA and SSA), GlcNAc (WGA and Nictaba) and Neu5Ac(alpha-2,6)Gal/GalNAc (SNA-I)], and visualized the interaction of these lectins with the different zones of the midgut cells using confocal microscopy. Our analysis focused on the typical differentiated columnar cells with a microvillar brush border at their apical side, which are dominantly present in the Lepidopteran midgut and function in food digestion and absorption, and as well as on the undifferentiated stem cells that are important for midgut development and repair. Confocal microscopy analyses showed that the GalNAc/Gal-binding lectins SSA and RSA and the terminal GlcNAc-recognizing WGA bound preferentially to the apical microvillar zone of the differentiated columnar cells as compared to the basolateral pole. The reverse result was observed for the mannose-binding lectins GNA and HHA, as well as Nictaba that binds preferentially to GlcNAc oligomers. Furthermore, differences in lectin binding to the basal and lateral zones of the cell membranes of the columnar cells were apparent. In the midgut stem cells. GNA and Nictaba bound more strongly to the membrane of these undifferentiated cells compared to the microvillar pole of the columnar cells, while SSA, HHA, WGA, and SNA-I showed stronger binding to the microvilli. Our results indicated that polarization of the midgut cells is also reflected by a specific distribution of glycans, especially between the basal and microvillar pole. The data are discussed in relation to the functioning and development of the insect midgut